Environmental drivers and spatial prediction of waterfowl breeding abundance, distribution, and population dynamics in the Prairie Pothole Region

Opportunity: Ph.D. Graduate Research Assistantship

Program: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation | Clemson University

Location: Georgetown, SC (James C. Kennedy Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation Center) and/or Clemson, SC (Clemson’s main campus). The location is flexible and depends on the needs of the student and project.

Start Date: Spring 2027 (January)

Last Date to Apply: September 30 or open until filled

General Description: A Ph.D. graduate research assistantship is available through the James C. Kennedy Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation Center, Clemson University, beginning January 2027 (flexible). This position will support a collaborative research project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Region 6 & 3 Habitat and Population Evaluation Team (HAPET) to evaluate, refine, and expand spatially explicit models of breeding duck pair abundance, distribution, and recruitment across the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region (USPPR), the Northern Great Plains, and beyond.

Background: The USPPR supports 30–50% of North America’s breeding duck populations annually. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has collected long-term monitoring data of breeding duck abundance and remotely-sensed wetland habitat information through the Four-Square-Mile Breeding Waterfowl Survey (FSMS) for nearly 40 years. These data are used in spatially explicit models (i.e., decision-support tools) to prioritize where and what type of wetlands and grassland conservation efforts should occur within the USPPR. Amid ongoing efforts to modernize the FSMS and derived decision-support tools, HAPET scientists recently developed new models of breeding duck abundance and recruitment; however, these models must be rigorously evaluated, tested, and expanded to new geographies and across different species before they can be operationalized. Thus, this work has the potential to directly inform conservation and policy decisions for breeding waterfowl in the most important landscape in the Northern Hemisphere. Derived products will be used for conservation prioritization and outcome-based effects analyses by the National Wildlife Refuge System, the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture, state wildlife agencies, and other conservation partners, and will help guide ongoing redesign efforts of the FSMS.

Objectives: The student will work closely with HAPET scientists and other partners to develop reproducible workflows and spatially explicit population models for use in decision-support tools used for waterfowl conservation. Core objectives are to (1) evaluate, extend, and/or refine breeding waterfowl models and (2) quantify sensitivity to changes in survey design or sampling intensity. The student will have the freedom to develop additional objectives in collaboration with their advisor and HAPET staff (e.g., data integration, community models, dynamic detection probabilities).

Fieldwork: While the research is primarily a modeling and remote-sensing based project, the student will join HAPET staff for 1–3 months in the USPPR (Bismarck, ND) to assist with FSMS surveys, aerial photography and habitat mapping, pre-season banding, and other fieldwork and related activities. Fieldwork will give the student firsthand knowledge of the survey data used in models and provide the unique opportunity to interact with HAPET staff and partners in the USPPR that use these models to support conservation prioritization, outcome analyses, and policy decisions.

Qualifications: Ideal candidates will hold an M.S. degree in wildlife ecology, natural resources management, computational biology, statistics, geospatial information science, or a related field. Preference will be given to applicants with a strong quantitative background (e.g., GIS, Google Earth Engine, R, JAGS) and knowledge and experience with migratory bird ecology and management. The position will involve extensive interaction and communication with federal agencies and NGOs, so strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively in virtual and in person settings is essential.

Expectations: (1) Willingness for summer fieldwork in the USPPR; (2) Publish results in peer-reviewed journals and present at scientific meetings; (3) A high standard of scientific and personal integrity.

Salary and Benefits: Student stipend will start at $32,500. A 3% cost-of-living increase can be negotiated annually, following satisfactory performance. Graduate tuition waiver and health benefits will be provided in accordance with Clemson University policies. Ample opportunities for professional development exist and can be strategically coordinated to align with the successful applicants career aspirations.

Application Instructions: To be considered, please send as a single .pdf (1) a cover letter, (2) curriculum vitae or resume, (3) unofficial university transcripts, (4) and contact information for three references to Dr. Nick Masto (nmasto@clemson.edu). To ensure your application is received, paste “Breeding Waterfowl PhD Application” into the subject line of your email. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled

Subject: PhD position in Watershed Biogeochemistry at Cornell University

 

The Watershed Biogeochemistry in the Anthropocene Lab (http://gersonlab.weebly.com) at Cornell University is recruiting a motivated, collaborative, and curious PhD student. The student will examine hotspots for methylmercury production within waterbodies of the Peruvian Amazon, as part of a project funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

 

Mercury is transformed by microbial activity into methylmercury – the form of mercury that is toxic and can bioaccumulate. The largest source of mercury contamination is artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), which uses mercury to isolate gold. Yet nearly all current understanding of mercury cycling originates from studies conducted in the Global North, which emits primarily ionic mercury from coal combustion, rather than elemental mercury from artisanal gold mining in the Global South and has different ecosystem structure and climate from the Global South. These differences in mercury speciation and environmental conditions alter how mercury is transported across the landscape and bioaccumulated in organisms and has implications for wildlife and indigenous communities living in the Global South. This project focuses on determining mercury transport and methylation pathways in the Peruvian Amazon to create a more nuanced, globally representative understanding of mercury cycling processes and to update existing models.

 

This research will involve a combination of fieldwork, laboratory analyses, lab experiments, and modeling. The student will be expected to work both independently and collaboratively, to communicate results in peer-reviewed scientific articles and conferences presentations, and to share their work with relevant community members and leaders.

 

The Watershed Biogeochemistry in the Anthropocene Lab studies how anthropogenic activities have altered the coupled cycling of nutrients and contaminants through watersheds. We examine the fate, transport, and transformation of these elements within and between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, including their consequences for people and animals.

 

The Gerson Lab is part of the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering (BEE) at Cornell University. I can also bring in students through the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNRE). Collectively, these communities provide great opportunities for students to work and interact with other watershed and ecosystem scientists in a supportive and collaborative environment. You will have opportunities at Cornell to collaborate with others across these departments and others, including through weekly across-lab aquatic meetings and bi-weekly biogeochemistry chalk talks and seminars. There are many additional opportunities for research, interaction, seminars, etc.

 

I encourage all students applying to graduate school to check out this article I co-authored about demystifying the graduate school application process.

 

Minimum qualifications: Previous experience with labwork, fieldwork, and data analysis. Students from a range of academic majors are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to students with a M.S. degree by the start date, although I will consider all students with a B.A. or B.S.

 

Desired qualifications: Previous experience conducting research or traveling independently in remote areas/difficult conditions, ability to communicate in Spanish (or willingness to learn), self-motivation, willingness to learn, positive attitude, interest in a cross-disciplinary approach, ability to work collaboratively in teams, and a commitment to creating an inclusive culture in the research group and more broadly in research science and education.

 

Note that GRE scores are not required or considered as part of the grad school application.

 

Funding: The PhD student will be funded on a combination of teaching and research assistantships, which include a competitive stipend for five years (including summers), tuition waiver, and health insurance benefits.

 

I also highly encourage you to apply for competitive fellowships, and I would be happy to work with you to develop your applications. Applications for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) are due in October. You can find examples of funded application materials here to use as a guide. There are also other fellowships you can apply for, including the Simons Foundation, DOE, NOAA, NASA, and USDA.

If interested, please review our lab website for more information and then contact Dr. Jacqueline Gerson at jacqueline.gerson@cornell.edu to arrange a zoom call. In your email, please briefly address the following questions: 1) your previous research experience and/or relevant skills, 2) what has been your most rewarding research experience and why, 3) why are you interested in pursuing a PhD, 4) what topics are you interested in pursuing for your PhD and why are those questions important to explore, 4) why are you interested in joining this lab, and 5) what do you want to do after you earn a PhD. your previous. Please also attach your CV, an unofficial transcript, and contact information for 3 references.

Recruiting for a fully-funded PhD student position in computational conservation at the Missouri Botanical Garden

I am excited to recruit a Ph.D. student to start in the fall of 2027 to join the Global Change and Conservation Computation Lab (GC3L) at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Working with lab members, other mentors, and me, the successful applicant will design their own research project focused on integrating weather (versus climate) into conservation biogeography and climate change vulnerability assessment. Possible areas of modeling focus include, for example, examining how extreme weather affects species’ distributions and abundances, joining models with phenological or morphological data collected from the Missouri Botanical Garden’s herbarium (one of the world’s largest), or exploring how climate cycles (e.g., El Niño/La Niña) affect restoration success. We do not have a geographic area of focus other than Earth, but nearly all of our work has a strong modeling component and/or focuses on global change.

I would be a good advisor for students who 1) want to make a positive impact with their lives through conservation; 2) have life or work experience outside a standard classroom setting (i.e., people who have been out of school for a while and are wanting to return); and 3) have a quantitative background and/or enjoy coding. Please see my mentoring statement: https://earthskysea.org/mentoring.

The student will join the Global Change and Conservation Lab and ~50 Ph.D.-level researchers, plus other Ph.D. students, and postdocs at the Garden. The student will be enrolled in and receive their degree from the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology graduate program at nearby Washington University in Saint Louis where I have a joint adjunct appointment, and so will also be part of that vibrant academic community. Funding is anticipated via University and Garden fellowships for 4 years; full details will be confirmed prior to formal interviews.

If you are interested, please complete an application to the lab at this link: https://forms.gle/ZD6U7nsBNSB7Gscf7 by October 25th, 2026. Please do not apply to Washington University in Saint Louis unless you hear back from me (unless you are interested in working with another professor at WUSTL). The reason I am using this two-stage process is because the WUSTL application requires an application fee and a number of essays, so I want to respect your time and funds. Applications for Ph.D. positions at WUSTL are due December 1st of 2026.

Relevant websites:

If you have questions, please contact me at adam.smith@mobot.org.

Adam

Adam B. Smith, Ph.D.
Scientist in Global Change & Conservation
Center for Conservation & Sustainable Development
Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Boulevard
Saint Louis, MO 63110 USA
https://earthSkySea.org

MSc and PhD Positions in Freshwater Science, Management and Conservation at UBC – Olden Lab

Location: Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Grey Point campus)

Start date: September 2027

Deadline: Considering applications on a rolling basis until Jan 15, 2027 (UBC deadlines: Feb 1, 2027)

Successful candidates will work on research that advances freshwater science, management, and conservation in Canada and beyond. Topics include those listed below as well as co-developed research of mutual interest.

·       Hydropower and ecologically sustainable water management

·       Climate change impacts and adaptation strategies

·       Nature-based solutions to restoration

·       Protection and recovery of species at risk

·       Ecology and management of invasive species

·       Community ecology, food-web dynamics, macroecology

·       Application of biotracers, eDNA biosurveillance, and other emerging approaches to conservation

·       Water security in an era of expanding AI infrastructure

·       iEcology, big data, conservation technology, and machine learning

·       Knowledge co-production and collaborative, community research

Graduate students will have opportunities to undertake priority research activities that directly advance the Olden Lab’s mission. Additionally, students may contribute to knowledge mobilization activities that engage directly with academic researchers, industry partners, policy practitioners, different levels of government, and Indigenous communities across British Columbia, Canada and beyond.

The Wilson lab in the Department of Entomology at the University of Kentucky is recruiting an MS or PhD student in Entomology to start in Spring 2027. This position will be located in Lexington, Kentucky on the main campus of the University of Kentucky. We study sustainable insect pest management and natural enemy conservation in urban trees, shrubs, and turfgrass. The selected student would be expected to study 1) how flowering lawn weeds influence biological control of scale insects in urban trees, and 2) the degree to which lawn-applied insecticides translocate into scale honeydew in nearby trees and resultant effects on natural enemy communities. The selected student will be encouraged to develop their own research projects under the general themes of the lab.

 Ideal applicants will possess a BS degree if applying to be a PhD student and an MS degree if applying to be a PhD student. Candidates should have a background in entomology, ecology, environmental sciences, biology, or a related field. Prior experience with field-based data collection, scientific writing, and statistical analysis are preferred. Successful applicants will start in January 2027. Students will receive an assistantship which fully covers tuition and provides a competitive stipend and health insurance. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Dr. Caleb Wilson with questions: c.wilson@uky.edu

The University of Kentucky is located in Lexington, Kentucky which contains a vibrant downtown along with many excellent options for dining, shopping, and outdoor recreation. The department of entomology is composed of 20 faculty with expertise in a wide array of disciplines. The department is consistently ranked as one of the most productive in the country and our students have moved on to successful careers in academia, industry, and government. Starting in December 2026, the department will be based in the newly constructed Agricultural Research Building which will contain state-of-the-art lab equipment for conducting research.

Additional information can be found at the Wilson lab website: https://caleb-j-wilson.com/, and the University of Kentucky Department of Entomology graduate program: https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/academics/graduate.

Prospective students should email application materials to Dr. Caleb Wilson at c.wilson@uky.edu by September 18th, 2026. Interviews will be conducted as applications are received. Applications received after September 18th may still be considered for an interview. The selected candidate will be required to apply to the graduate school at the University of Kentucky by December 1st 2026. Candidates who apply to the graduate school without interviewing with Dr. Wilson will not be considered for this position.

To apply, please email Dr. Caleb Wilson at c.wilson@uky.edu by September 18th, 2026, with “Scale insect grad student application: First name, Last name” in the subject line and attach the following documents:

1. A cover letter describing research experience, interests, and career goals

2. CV

3. Name and contact information for 3 professional references.

4. An unofficial transcript for all degrees received or in progress.

I am pleased to announce a PhD position in my lab at the University of Würzburg in Würzburg, Germany.

This fully funded PhD project will investigate how heat waves affect insect pollinators, from their ability to detect floral scents to their foraging behaviour. The project will also examine how heat stress influences pollination efficiency, including flower visitation and pollen transfer, providing insights into how climate change may impact pollination services.

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in biology, ecology, entomology, or related field, and a background in insect physiology, behavioural ecology, and/or pollination biology as well as experience in conducting experiments in the field and laboratory, good statistical skills in R, and fluency in written and spoken English language.

Position: PhD in the effects of heat waves on insect pollinators
Location: University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
Application deadline: 15. Oktober 2026
Starting date: 01. December 2026

Further details, including information on the project, requirements, and how to apply, can be found in the job advertisement:

Please feel free to forward this announcement to anyone who may be interested.

Michael Reichert

Associate Professor

Department of Integrative Biology

Oklahoma State University

524 Life Sciences West

Stillwater, OK 74078 USA

+1-405-744-5555

Graduate student assistants sought for project in Chile

We seek TWO graduate students to assist with a National Science Foundation supported field study on Octodon degus social organization and social structure in Chile. The research is coordinated by faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Tennessee Technological University and involves collaborations with researchers in Chile (in person) and Colombia (remotely). We are particularly interested in applications from prospective students with (i) research interests in animal social interactions, (ii) geospatial aspects of social behavior, (iii) ability to translate research to general audiences via scientific writing and (iv) Spanish speaking skills.

The prospective student(s) will contribute to a long-term study of how climatic conditions influence the fitness consequences of spatiotemporal variation in social organization and social structure. Students will work in cohorts consisting of Biology, Geology, and Math students, facilitating integrative projects and mathematical modeling of data collected in the field. The field season in Chile extends between mid-May to late November, which covers the period of mating and offspring production and care. Funding will support two field seasons in Chile.

Prospective students will enroll in a Masters or PhD program at Tennessee Technological University. Professor Manual Jara (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=MGx_WbMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate) will serve as the student’s advisor at Tennessee Technological University. Professor Loren Hayes (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=I35ih68AAAAJ) coordinates the projects in Chile and will serve on the students’ thesis/dissertation committees. The field site is located within a 5 min drive from Astrocamping Ovalle ([[https://astrocampingvientosur.cl<https://astrocampingvientosur.cl/]https://astrocampingvientosur.cl<https://astrocampingvientosur.cl/>]https://astrocampingvientosur.cl<https://astrocampingvientosur.cl/]https://astrocampingvientosur.cl<https://astrocampingvientosur.cl/>), where students live for the duration of the project.

Criteria for selection:

*   U.S. citizen or permanent resident, currently a full-time student or official commitment to become a full-time student by beginning of January or May 2027.

*   Academic major: Biology, Environmental Science or related disciplines,

*   Potential for future success, to bring unique perspectives to the program and to work effectively with a team,

*   Commitment for duration of project (July-Dec 2027 and 2028)

*   Ability to work long hours and live in a remote area (45 min drive from nearest city),

*   Relevant coursework,

*   GPA (3.0 or higher; students with GPAs lower than 3.0 may apply but need to address the issue in their statement of interest).

*   All things equal: ability to drive a standard vehicle and Spanish speaking skills are preferred.

Financial benefits:

*   stipend with tuition waiver

*   Summer salary

*   Round-trip flight on U.S. carrier

*   Housing in Chile

*   Travel costs in Chile (truck rental, gas, tolls)

*   Supply/Equipment support

Interested students should prepare a single PDF file containing (i) a 2-page statement highlighting their research interests (with an emphasis on how this relates to the degu study), personal/professional goals, and how they meet the criteria for selection, (ii) unofficial undergraduate and graduate transcripts, and (iii) a CV with contact information of two people with knowledge of the student’s potential for research and to enrich diversity of the program. Please email applications as a single PDF to both Professor Manual Jara (mjara@tntech.edu) and Professor Loren Hayes (loren-hayes@utc.edu) by 30 September 2026.